‘Glee’- “The Quarterback”: The good, the bad & the devastating

I’ll put it out there: If you could sit through last night’s episode of Glee without shedding at least one tear, then you might have a cold, black heart. It was the tribute episode to the late Cory Monteithand was used as a platform to celebrate the life of the actor, as well as that of lead character Finn Hudson. Less than a minute in, the floodgates opened and my waterworks were turned on with full force. As a whole, I thought the tribute was really well done. Were there flaws? Of course. Glee has pretty much jumped ship from the greatness it was in the beginning, but the episode served as a reminder that when these writers and actors, who were forced to have their art imitate a very tragic moment from all of their lives, are good, they’re really, really good.

The Good

The non-exploitive nature of the episodeWhen Cory Monteith abruptly passed away in June, the first reaction I noticed was that of shock: the “hows” and “whys” and “RIPs”. The second reaction I saw was the “well, now what” for Glee. Clearly the creators couldn’t simply write him off in a “he moved/re-joined the army/ is too busy at college” play because that would do a disservice to both the character and the actor. Cory and Finn are linked. There’s no easy way to put it. Of course, killing Finn off was the only option.How to handle that death was the problem. Ryan Murphy et al. tend to really go over the top and cram as many issues and lessons as possible into every season – which has become one of my major problems with the show. Just how many “very special episodes” can one show squeeze in? The Glee producers had to address the situation without turning it into just another lesson, like they did with bullying and homophobia and suicide and domestic abuse and teen pregnancy and texting and driving and [INSERT LESSON TO BE ADDRESSED THEN SUBSEQENTLY SWEPT UNDER THE RUG HERE]. *

To have Finn develop a drug addiction, like Monteith had in real life, to teach a lesson about the hard hitting truths that come with the battles of addictions would be too easy. From a storyline stand point, it’d have been disjointed and convenient. From a real life stand point, it would have been tasteless and exploitive. So the writers never gave a “how”. And it was quite well done. At the very beginning, Finn’s stepbrother Kurt (Chris Colfer) addressed it immediatly: “Everyone wants to talk about how he died, but who cares?” That line laid the groundwork for the remainder of the episode that would be not about the death of the character, but rather a remembrance of his life and how each person cope with grief. It also was a subtle, but giant “eff you” to the internet commenters out there who think they have to remind the rest of the internet that Monteith died of a drug overdose, as if that makes him less worthy to mourn.

*I will say that Glee has handled some issues, like sexuality and bullying, phenomenally, while others, like domestic abuse and the school shooting right after Sandy Hook, were pathetic attempts to piggy back on hot button issues.

There’s no wrong way to grieveThe “lesson” from the episode, of course, was that there is no wrong way to grieve. While the current cast of the show was featured, the real focus was on those closest to Finn – his family, his girlfriend, his friends and his teachers. Each major character went through a different type of grief that made sense for that character. Rachel (Lea Michele) hid out for most of the episode, before belting out a beautiful and tearful ballad. Puck (Mark Salling) turned to booze and theft, before breaking down. Mr. Schue (Matt Morison) stayed strong in front of everyone else, but made sure to hold on to a major reminder of his former student. No matter which way the characters grieved, whether it was comical, upsetting or musical, it worked.

Each character stayed in characterFurthermore, in highlighting each character’s path of grief, no character turned unrecognizable. This was most obvious through the storylines of Santana (Naya Rivera), who was in full on bitch-mode before her super emotional breakdown in which she admitted that she didn’t want Finn to think she was a horrible person, and Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), who continued to torment the Glee Club, to keep things normal despite losing a piece of her heart. From the character consistency, we got some of the lighter moments of the show: loveable but self-centered Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) mourned about having to wear so much black and nasty cheerleader Kitty (Becca Tobin) noted the locker shrine was kind of cheesy.

The musicNo shocker, but the music was spot on. For the most part, the vocalists who deserved the songs received them. The theme of the week was “Finn” and Mr. Schue instructed his students and former students to sing any song that reminded them of their late friend. Rather than belting out Top 40 songs (if I heard “Wrecking Ball” I might have screamed), the show stuck to songs that were relevant to his character and appropriate. We got some Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor and Bob Dylan, plus the sometimes-overdone, but somehow-perfect “Seasons of Love” from Rent.

Finn & Kurt’s parentsWith the exception of Rachel’s birth mother, no Glee characters’ parents have gotten any real attention besides Kurt and Finn’s. However, in the last few years, even their screen time has seriously dwindled. They could have been written out of the episode so that the central focus was on how Finn’s friends and classmates coped with the death. In a smart move, though, they were included and the scene was real and absolutely devastating. Mike O’Malley and Romy Rosemont’s packing up Finn’s room was gut wrenching and beautifully sad.

Photo: Fox

The Bad

Quinn M.I.A.Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) played an important role in the Finn storyline from the beginning, transitioning from his girlfriend to his baby mama to not his baby mama to his girlfriend again and finally back to his friend. Therefore, it seemed crazy that Agron wasn’t included and just added fuel to the fire of rumors that she left the show on not-so amicable terms. Amber Riley — quite magnificently—sang “I’ll Stand By You”—a song that Cory’s character memorably sang to Dianna’s character back in season one.

Ending with Mr. SchueI get it. The final scene showed that Mr. Schue, despite rocking a hard façade, was broken inside from Finn’s death. But, as someone who has been hardcore Team Finchel (God, I’m embarrassing) since Day 1, I felt strongly that the episode should have ended with Rachel. It was a strong and emotional ending – seeing Finn’s teacher bawling into Finn’s letterman jacket – but so much of the show has been the ups and downs between the couple at the center of it all: Rachel and Finn. Plus, Lea Michele’s character didn’t show up until the very end, so I thought I only fitting that Finn’s chapter would end with her.

The Devastating

The reality factorWas all of the acting in the episode perfect? Not by any means. Does that flawed acting deserve to go in “The Bad”? Hell no. These kids (okay, adults) are dealing with the loss of a coworker, friend, significant other and it showed. Reports stated that most of the scenes were shot in only one take because each one was so difficult and resulted in actors running off the stage in tears. So, my heart goes out to all of them. The tears looked real. The pain and anguish seemed legit. It was terribly depressing knowing that just like Finn was gone, so was the real guy behind the character. Would highschool kids be put together after the death of friend? Obviously not. So it was appropriate that an actor’s acting would go from exceptional to exceptionally off in the same scene. The grief of the characters, as well as the actors who played them, was devastating.Characters get killed off of TV shows all the time. However, knowing that you can see Katherine Heigl in any cheesy rom-com or Sean Bean donning awesome period garb sometime soon makes TV deaths much easier to get over. Sadly that’s not the case in this instance.

I initially had a scene or two jotted down to really highlight. But, oh my god, I just kept remembering additional scenes and can’t ignore them. So many scenes – Finn’s parents cleaning out his room and breaking down, Puck rebelling and then breaking down, Santana signing Lady Antebellum and then breaking down, Rachel just being there – were gut wrenching, thoughtful and beautiful in a really sad, sad way.

I don’t want to see this episode again. It was really well done and my hat goes off to the writers and actors, but even as someone who watches the show rolling my eyes most of the time, it was tough to sit through and impossible not to cry through. What’d you think readers?

One Response

I agree totally with the episodes review. The grieving over Finn was true to life. I especially admire the scene with Finn’s parents packing up his belongings. The pain shown by his Mother regarding waking each day and forgeting for a moment then remembering she has no child to love was so real. Having lost my own son at age 31 to a drug overdose brought Corys death into my heart as if Id known him. RIP sweet lamb.

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